Unforetold, Saturnine Seasons
by Hibaku
Summary: Detailed pairing summary inside. A lot of reference to the manga, main connection with Sakurahime. Romance, a little bit of fighting in the middle, weaves up a few loopholes in the manga. Enjoy.
1. Prologue

I've not been writing fanfiction for a long, long time, do forgive the style… This takes place post-SODOM, if you've not read the manga it'll be really difficult to understand why this and that happens. Pairings: ReccaYanagi, RaiFuu, NeonKurei. Some of you might hate it, some of you might not. Believe me, these pairings are the consequence of the manga. Have fun!

Oh and by the way: You may realize that you cannot identify some punctuation marks if you browser is set to the Western European setting. Please right click and go to 'Encoding', then click on 'Unicode (UTF-8)'. Sorry for the inconvenience!

**x **

_Prologue_

"I think this will be good," smiled Yanagi at Recca as she held up a baby bottle. Recca frowned and pointed at a colorful bib with teddy bears drawn on top.

"Wouldn't that be better? It _is _his birthday, he likes pretty things."

Yanagi stared up at Recca.

"You've changed, Recca-kun. You're more… sensitive now."

Recca gave her a sheepish grin. "Well, I have to be."

Yanagi smiled back and nodded decidedly. "The bib it shall be!"

**x**

"Why on earth did you not remember to get the fertiliser earlier in the day?" scolded Aoi, as she cruised down the aisles of the supermarket with Domon, shopping for Hana no Ishijima. "We could have gotten it cheaper elsewhere than a supermarket!"

"Sorry," Domon muttered, looking at his watch. It was already close to nine p.m. He sighed as he remembered his mother's expression when she found out just minutes before that Domon forgot to get the fertilizer.

It was then when the two of them heard a deafening tirade in the canned food section just in front.

"Maybe we can get free food while they're not looking," Domon enthusiastically raced towards the noise.

"Sure, Domon," Aoi sarcastically cheered. "Everything goes through the cashier in a supermarket."

"…If I told you I was kidding, would you believe me?" Domon hopefully asked.

Aoi rolled her eyes and continued pushing the shopping cart forward.

And then she stopped.

"Whoa, look at that."

Domon, true to his nature, looked.

A Caucasian-looking girl about their age was crawling out of a huge pile of baked bean cans – slowly, but unhurt. She stood up, looked at the pile of cans bewilderedly and then left.

"What a babe that gaijin is…" Domon's eyes turned into stars as he dreamily stared after her.

Aoi frowned and pushed the cart towards the pile before thoughtfully picking up a few cans and putting them down inside. She decidedly hit Domon (hard) on the head with one of the cans before heading for the fertilizer.

"Why did you take the cans?" Domon asked cheekily. "You think it's gonna be free, don't you? Since there are huge dents and all."

Aoi gave an exasperated sigh. "Very hardworking of you to try to use your brain, but no. I am going to try to get them _cheap_, not free. There's nothing free in this world."

Domon grumbled under his breath as they walked along when suddenly Aoi said, "Wait. There's something that will probably be free in this world."

"What?"

"Your brain. I can't see why it's going to be worth anything."

**x**

"Raiha" Fuuko bounded up to the said 'victim', waving a plastic snake that could light up, and had segments to facilitate its movement if you just flicked on a switch, in his face. "Do you think he'll like this?"

"Honestly, he likes anything colorful. And you choose the weirdest things!"

"Isn't this cool? It lights up in so many different colors and wriggles around! It even has a motion detector so it doesn't bump into anything easily. He'll love it!"

"Fuuko… If this is functions as what you have described, it must be expensive."

Fuuko shot Raiha a death glare and muttered something that sounded like "Your coffin will be a cheap one, I promise."

Raiha sighed and took a look at the price tag.

He promptly fainted.

**x**

"Mika-chan…" Tokiya's long-time neighbour Itsuko (who loved to borrow essentials like mineral water from him since she didn't have anything much in her home but hangovers) knocked on his door.

"What…" Tokiya opened the door, albeit irritated. He was studying for his entrance exams to university (read: University of Tokyo) and he did not, I repeat, did not like anyone to break his concentration.

"I'm moving out next week to my boyfriend's place!" smiled Itsuko. "I, well, just wanted to say thank you. And goodbye."

She gave him a small bow. Awkwardly, he bowed back.

"You've been a nice kid, Mika-chan," she smiled. "I do hope you have a good neighbor… At least, someone who's sober most of the time," she winked.

"Thank you, Itsuko-san."

"No problem," came the soft spoken reply. "Thank _you_ for putting up with all my hangover nonsense these few years."

"You're welcome."

"Ah, what's with all this politeness today! Sheesh. I do hope you get a girlfriend soon. See you around!"

With that, Itsuko left and Tokiya shut the door, allowing sound to resonate throughout the silent corridor.


	2. ONE: Kinship and Ties

Welcome to Hibaku's Japanese classroom. It will help a little if you had a basic understanding of Japanese and Japanese names for you to understand some parts of this piece of fiction, so here goes!

_Gaijin_: foreigner

_Yanagi_: in case you don't know already, it means willow. (okay, I don't mean to belittle your intelligence but just putting these may help others, aight? Peace.)

_Michi_: The name 'michi' has many many many forms in Japanese. However, our Michi (my original character number one) is more special – her radical for 'mi' is similar to the 'mi' in Mikagami. Hence, you get the radical for 'water' in her name. The word for 'chi' means 'wisdom', if your computer supports Japanese text you may see it appearing in this chapter. Other words for 'michi' can mean 'the unknown as of now' (you will be seeing her relation to this meaning later in the fic) or 'the way' (you will not see any relevance whatsoever to this word in this fic).

_How Wednesday is related to water_: The radicals for the days of the week in Japanese are represented by elements. Wednesday holds the element of 'water' - 水曜日, if you can view Japanese text. Wednesday is pronounced _suiyoubi_, 'sui' in this case being the 'sui' in 'Ensui'. Radicals are the same for both 'sui' and 'mi' but pronunciations are different. Ironically, the most popular pronunciation for the radical is neither. When people see the radical for 'water', it is most often pronounced 'mizu', which is literally, water.

_Ryou and Shizuka_: Why do they not live up to their names? I had a purpose for choosing these two names – Ryou (良) means 'good' while Shizuka (静), means 'quiet and peaceful'. Get the picture?

_Hibaku_: Yes, just for fun! 'Hibaku' is written 飛瀑, which means 'a waterfall from a high place'. Unfortunately, it can also sound like 'a bombing casualty' in Japanese. Ah, woe is me!

_

* * *

Chapter One_

"Pikachu! Are you free this weekend?" Saitou Michi, a student from another high school working at the kindergarten, approached Yanagi.

Yanagi giggled and asked, "Why do you just have to call me Pikachu?"

"Un… Because Pikachu is cute and happy, like you!" proclaimed Michi. She had been working with Yanagi for three months, and the two had become firm friends.

Laughing, Yanagi replied, "I'm not free this weekend, I have to go to my art classes in the morning before attending a little boy's birthday party."

"Is the little boy from our kindergarten?"

Yanagi shook her head. "He's a… relative," she decided with a smile.

**

* * *

**

Michi finished arranging the painting pots and stood back to admire her work. Yanagi chuckled, "It's not that fascinating."

"I like it," Michi smiled, still gazing lovingly at the paint pots.

Yanagi gathered up all the paintbrushes she had washed and wondered out loud, "Is there anything you don't like?"

"Un…" mused the blonde, a hand on her chin, thinking hard. "I think I would not like to be lonely."

The statement struck Yanagi as unexpected; and she quietly dried her hands on a towel hanging by the sink. She thought Michi would say something like, "I don't like purple birds that perch on pine trees" or something else pertaining to the girl's character.

"What about you?" Michi voiced.

"I think I would not like to be lonely too," softly came the confession.

There was a pregnant pause before Michi spoke again.

"My mom and dad met in a café somewhere in Hawaii. You would think that they would have met on the beach, when you mention they first met in Hawaii," Michi fondly recounted as she planted herself on a little chair the kids normally sat on while drawing their pictures. She quietly moved another chair to accommodate Yanagi, and gingerly the other girl sat down, not wanting to create any noise that could wake the sleeping children from their afternoon nap.

"Kaa-san was most definitely a _gaijin_, and my father's parents objected to the marriage because they felt Japanese and Americans should not have anything to do with each other. They were both involved in the war, you see. But… Kaa-san and Tou-san went against my grandparents, as television dramas always go."

Yanagi silently wondered where the conversation was going. She felt that Michi was going to give her a revelation of some sort that day, no matter if it was terribly important to her or not.

"So, they got married and had me. We lived happily in Hokkaido for about ten years until Kaa-san contracted cervical cancer… Well, you probably know what comes next after cancer. Tou-san doesn't seem to be very bothered that Kaa-san isn't around now, but I think it hurts him deep down inside."

Michi held Yanagi's gaze soulfully.

"I'm not sure whether it was Kaa-san that caused it, but I felt so lonely. So empty inside… As if there was a huge part of me that was missing. It seemed that I was feeling that way for a long, long time, so I couldn't be sure that it was Kaa-san that made me feel that way."

Michi sighed and closed her eyes.

"Until I met you, Yanagi-chan…"

Yanagi felt her breath catch in her throat. Michi smiled sadly at her.

"I'm not saying that I treat you as my mother… That would be terrifyingly hilarious. But… It's just that… When I moved to Tokyo and saw you leading the children around in the park drawing the flowers and the trees, I knew I had to get to know you. I knew you had to be a part of my life, somehow. So I decided to join the kindergarten as an assistant, like you."

Yanagi cleared her throat. She felt uneasy – Michi seemed to be telling her about her _true feelings, _and Yanagi was 100 per cent straight, boyfriend included.

Noticing Yanagi's discomfort, Michi decided to explain further.

"Don't get me wrong, Pikachu!" Michi laughed, blushing and rubbing the back of her head. "I see you as a sister, a close friend…"

Yanagi, still suspicious, only gave an apprehensive smile.

"You don't think I'm speaking the truth?"

Yanagi shook her head. "I just find it hard to stomach."

"No matter what, it's true. Even so… I still feel that something else is missing from my life. I'm still in search for it… I believe that when I've found that something or someone, I will know why you are so important to me."

Smiling, Michi decided to change the subject. "So, Pikachu, why did your parents give you the name 'Yanagi'? I've always wanted to ask you this."

Yanagi was surprised. "Well… The _kanji_ for 'yanagi' is this," she grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from the little table and wrote the word '柳'. "I was born premature, and my parents felt that even though I was with weak constitution, I would grow up to be resilient, even though I may not be physically strong. Un… Why do you ask?"

"I just get interested in people's names," confessed Michi. "I like to use their names to identify with what kind of people they are, and whether they live up to their name or not."

"Well, tell me how you got your name and I'll see if you _live up_ to it or not!" teased Yanagi.

Michi laughed. "You may think that my name is 'michi'," she paused to write the word '道' on the piece of paper, "or 'michi' with the 'mi' like that," she followed by writing the word '美'.

"But my name is kind of weird because the first radical was chosen by my mother and the second by my father. My name is written like this," Michi wrote the kanji characters '水智'.

"Uhhhh… 'The wisdom of water'?" Yanagi studied the words carefully.

"Literally, yes. You see, I was born on a Wednesday, and you know the radical for Wednesday is-"

"Water," finished Yanagi.

"Obviously," sighed Michi, "that part of my name was chosen by my gaijin mother. My father wanted me to have wisdom, so hooray for the 'chi' part of my name. I'm supposed to be, in essence, the product of love of my parents, that's why they chose to choose a word each to make up my name. My name doesn't mean much literally – it's the essence that counts. So," concluded Michi, "you can be a judge of whether I live up to my name or not!"

Laughing, Yanagi nodded. "I see."

At that timely moment, just when they had run out of things to say for that day, Ryou, one of the children at the centre, popped out of the room and rubbed his eyes.

"Yanagi-neechan, Michi-neechan, I need to pee!" he announced loudly, waking half his class up. Behind him was Shizuka, his rival classmate who had to copy everything he did.

"I need to pee as well!" she proclaimed as royally as she could.

"I need to pee more urgently!" Ryou shouted, not wanting to be defeated.

"I am already peeing!" Shizuka put her hands on her hips and stuck out her tongue, attempting to wet the floor.

Enraged, Ryousquatted down and made a measure to defecate.

Sighing in mock desperation, Yanagi and Michi hurriedly grabbed the hand of each of the children and the former whispered to the other, "These two certainly don't live up to their names!"

Using her other hand to muffle her snort of laughter, Michi nodded in agreement as they rushed the children to the bathroom before they could make the two older girls their clean-up slaves.

* * *

"_Kurei… Kurei!"_

"_I'm sorry, Neon."_

* * *

Neon woke up to the sound of her son, Hiro, crying. Rushing up to his cot, she rocked him gently and lifted up her shirt to breastfeed him.

She gave an inward sigh and thought of how nice it would be if Kurei was around. He would help her with the baby, come home to a loving family…

…But that probably would never, ever happen.

* * *

Saitou Nobuhiko was preparing the table for dinner when he heard a click in the door.

His daughter was home.

That meant he had to tell her the news.

"Otou-san! I'm home!" Michi called from the front door.

"Okay! Dinner's ready!" Nobuhiko smiled. _Keep calm, keep calm_, he told himself.

Michi put down her schoolbag and asked her father, "How was work today?"

Nobuhiko froze for less than a nanosecond and replied with a bright grin, "It was terrific. We managed to finish the Arakawa project!"

Michi raised her eyebrow critically. "I thought you finished that project last month?"

"Oh… I meant the OTHER Arakawa project."

"…Stop it, Otou-san. What's going on?"

Nobuhiko sighed and put his head in his hands. "I've been retrenched."

Michi was quiet as she picked up her bowl of rice.

"Otou-san," she gently spoke, "let's eat first."

Nobuhiko, always one to listen to his daughter, took his chopsticks in his fingers and announced with a sad smile, "Itadakimasu."

"So, basically we will have to find another place to live in, right?" Michi asked, looking around the living room.

Nobuhiko nodded.

"Well, it's only the two of us… We'll live in an apartment! How about that? We don't have to live in a house like this. An apartment will be just nice for us. Cozy and warm."

Nobuhiko nodded again.

"Otou-san… Don't be so sad. I'm not affected by it at all, really."

Nobuhiko gave Michi a shadowy smile. "I promised your mother I would give you the best…"

Michi walked over to her father, knelt down and gave him a hug. "You already have."


	3. TWO: The Little Prince

Hibaku's Japanese classroom! Today, there's only one word.

_Neesan: _Elder sister.

Tell me if you want to clarify anything. And I was reading the previous chapter when I realized I misused the word 'tirade'. Unintentionally, I would like to rectify. There was supposed to be a manager quarreling and all that but I cut it out. Oh and I realized that florists probably don't need fertilizer. Please forgive! ((chuu))

**x**

_Chapter Two_

"Ahhhhhh help help help help- Thanks Raiha," Fuuko gasped in relief, as Raiha managed to stabilize the tray of jelly. Fuuko continued carrying the tray to the enormous dining table.

Neon slyly walked over to Raiha and whispered, "So you two a couple already?"

Raiha blushed and gave Neon a big smile. "It's really not your business, Neon."

Slapping Raiha on the back playfully, Neon walked over to the mantlepiece and looked at the pictures on top. It showed Yanagi as a baby, her (extremely beautiful) mother and father's wedding photo, Yanagi as a toddler and Yanagi with her mother and father when she was about five years old.

_I wonder when Hiro will be that big…_

The doorbell jolted Neon back to reality. "Could someone please get it for me?" called Yanagi from the kitchen. Raiha was cooing to Hiro as the baby lay in the pram, Aki and Miki were also helping Yanagi in the kitchen along with Fuuko, so Neon opened the door.

_I thought they had a housekeeper around here…?_

"Neon-san!" called out Aoi and Domon happily. They handed Neon a package and Domon chuckled, "This is for Hiro. From us!"

Neon said her thanks and placed it in Hiro's pram, along with his other gifts. "Where are the rest?" Aoi asked.

"Un, not here yet I suppose. It's still early," Neon mused. Aoi nodded and got up to help out in the kitchen. Neon was about to follow when Aoi spun around and wagged her finger.

"No no no Neon-san! Today you are also a star," grinned Aoi. "Stay here and relax. This was Yanagi's instructions!"

Neon smiled and sat herself down beside Raiha, who was cuddling Hiro in his arms.

"Aw, he likes you," commented Neon. Raiha beamed, "Really?"

Neon laughed and nodded. Raiha rubbed noses with the little baby and Neon looked sadly at her friend.

Raiha suddenly turned and caught Neon's melancholic expression. He was silent for a moment.

"Neon… Tell me frankly. Hiro's father is Kurei-sama, right?"

Neon just lowered her head and said nothing.

"Neon-"

The doorbell saved her.

**x**

Tokiya was taken aback by Neon's zombie-like expression. She rarely looked like that.

"Hello, Neon," he gave a small, polite smile. Neon tried to smile back, but it seemed more of a grimace than anything else.

As he entered, he raised his eyebrows at Raiha, who shrugged and went back to playing with the baby.

"Here, this is for Hiro," Tokiya handed Neon the gift. "Sorry I didn't wrap it."

"Thank you…" Neon said listlessly, placing the box of mittens again in the pram. She wandered to the balcony and stayed there.

Tokiya went over to Raiha and asked, "Is she all right?"

Raiha sighed and rocked Hiro back and forth. "I asked her about Hiro's father… She didn't want to tell me who he is. For obvious reasons."

Tokiya nodded in understanding.

Raiha gave a sorrowful smile. "I think we all know, in our hearts, who Hiro's father is. And Neon is just trying to mask her pain by not talking about it, by trying to forget it…"

**x**

"Hiro is three months old today!" Yanagi announced to everyone. "We're all here to celebrate his existence of one full year!"

The guests clapped and cheered, and Neon smiled. It was a long time since she had felt relatively exhilarated.

"Let's cut the cake," Yanagi cheerfully beckoned to Recca to push it out of the kitchen. On the huge cake shaped like a baby were the words, "We Love You, Hiro-kun!"

"I hope that Neon and the baby will be happy," Raiha murmured to Fuuko.

"They will," Fuuko gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. He returned her gesture with a smile.

**x**

"Kagerou-san… I have to speak to you."

Kagerou turned around and was surprised to hear that from Aoi, who rarely spoke to her except when Kagerou was at the flower shop.

"Come here," Aoi pulled Kagerou into another hallway.

Kagerou wondered what Aoi was up to when Aoi whispered a very surprising question.

"Kagerou-san… Is it possible for anyone to be empowered without madougu? Say, having an impenetrable barrier like how Recca used with Madouka the fire dragon?"

Kagerou stared at Aoi for a moment before speaking. "Technically, it is possible. Recca himself did it without madougu-"

"But the thing is, Kagerou-san," Aoi eagerly cut in, "Hokage is destroyed now, right? Okay maybe I should ask you if it is possible for anyone to have powers now that Hokage does not exist?"

Kagerou nodded her head. "There should be. There are so many definitions of 'power' in this world! But regarding the power about the impenetrable barrier… I cannot be sure. The only proof that someone can be empowered without any relation to the Hokage is Yanagi."

Aoi nodded – she had thought about it before, but it struck her that Yanagi was just one in the whole world.

Kagerou continued, "As you know, Yanagi still retains her healing powers because she was born with it. I do not rule out the possibility that someone can be born with such powers, but it is very difficult to believe. It would be a very old magic… Like Yanagi's, for example."

Surprised, Aoi asked, "What do you mean, 'like Yanagi's'?"

Kagerou sighed and guided Aoi to the stairs. "Let me tell you from the beginning."

**x**

Domon was mulling around the Sakoshita mansion, never a guy for truth-or-dare no matter what his personality revealed him to be. Tokiya was forced to play by everyone, Raiha was forced to play by Fuuko and Yanagi was coaxed to play by Recca. Tsukishiro and Kasshamaru proclaimed that they would accept only dares, Gashakura, the first victim, confessed that he used to have a crush on Tokiya (that was the moment Domon felt he had to leave) and Neon was feeding Hiro in one of the rooms on the first floor. Saicho and Misora, Rassen and Kirin were on their respective honeymoons and could not attend the party.

_Ah, it feels nice to be alone sometimes._

Domon then passed a display cupboard on the second floor full of stuffed toys, cards and other memorabilia.

_This must belong to Yanagi…_

He scanned the photos, looking out for pretty girls (with huge assets). He spotted a few from school, lots of pictures with Fuuko, but only one he did not classify as 'familiar'.

_She isn't from our school_, he thought, looking at her uniform. _Her boobs aren't that great either._

He was about to turn away when it suddenly dawned on him that he _had _seen her before.

"The supermarket girl!" Domon cried out loud, his voice echoing through the silent second-floor hallway.

**x**

"YES! MI-CHAN!" Fuuko cackled. "Truth or dare?"

Tokiya, blushing in irritation, mumbled 'truth'.

"Ooooooh…" went the members of the circle.

"Who is your girlfriend, really?" Fuuko shot at him.

"I don't have one," Tokiya replied confidently as the group groaned things like, "Overused, Fuuko!" and "We asked him that the last time we played!"

"Next," Tokiya declared in his cool demeanor.

"Hey, that's not fair-"

"FUUKO!" screamed the circle in delight, as the arrow on the board pointed to 'Truth or Dare'.

Scoffing, Fuuko chose 'dare'.

"Ohohoho," chuckled Recca sinisterly. "You can't choose 'dare' anymore. You've chosen it three times. You have to tell a truth before you do anymore dares."

"WHAT! What kind of rule is that!"

"Truth truth truth truth truth truth…" chanted the circle.

"Okay, okay," surrendered Fuuko. "Ask away."

Tokiya's cool-headedness was only given away by the glint in his eyes. "Do you or do you not brush your teeth first thing in the morning?"

Fuuko turned a beetroot red before cursing Tokiya severely. "So what if I don't?"

The circle gave a few barfing sounds before Fuuko spun the arrow vigorously.

It landed on 'Double Truth or Double Dare'.

And it pointed to Fuuko again.

"Double dare!" Fuuko quickly shot up to her feet, screaming her choice. Tokiya, being the previous most possible person the arrow had pointed to, had two options. One, he could give her one of his dares, or he could pick another person to give Fuuko her dare.

Tokiya then looked at Recca, who grinned widely and nodded. Tokiya pointed to the latter and said, "I'll let Recca give you your dare."

Fuuko was steaming mad by then. "You know perfectly well that I would probably lose my dignity and not get married ever with this guy's dares, Mi-chan!"

Tokiya shrugged nonchalantly, savoring every minute of Fuuko's pissed-off-ness. Recca stood up and with an evil glint in his eyes, said, "Let the dare begin."

**x**

"Kagerou-mama! Aoi! What are both of you doing here?" exclaimed Domon. Aoi replied, "Kagerou-san was telling me about Yanagi's previous life."

Domon remembered, "Oh, the Sakura-hime one?"

Kagerou nodded. Aoi then spoke, "You remember the girl we saw at the supermarket? The one who got buried under that pile of cans?"

"Uh-huh, of course," Domon responded, thinking about the photo he saw in the display cupboard.

"I'm asking Kagerou-san if it's possible for anyone to possess such abilities without madougu," explained Aoi.

Domon mused, "Well, Yanagi can do that, right?"

Aoi gasped in mock surprise. "Very good, Domon!"

"…Shut up."

Kagerou laughed and turned back to Aoi. "Basically, that's what happened. Sakura-hime died so that she could preserve her country's dignity and her chastity."

Aoi nodded to show she understood. Domon then spoke up rather grumpily. "If you guys are done, I have something to show you."

**x**

"You know, you don't really have to do this…" Raiha tried to coax Fuuko. She ignored him and rolled up her sleeves.

"You are stupid, Hanabishi Recca," Fuuko stuck out her tongue at him.

"Thank you," guffawed her object of verbal abuse. "You may begin."

Tsukishiro switched on the CD player and the opening blasts for an English song by Britney Spears called 'Baby One More Time' began.

Miki and Aki jumped out from nowhere and shouted over the music, "We're here to help you, Fuuko! Follow our moves!" They then shook their booties, forcing Yanagi to cover Recca's eyes.

_Oh brother_, Fuuko muttered inwardly before trying to imitate them. _Damn that Recca. No wait, DAMN MIKAGAMI TOKIYA!_

**x**

"Maybe you've got the wrong person…" Aoi mused, peering at the photograph. Domon shook his head. "I stared at her longer than you did."

"I believe you," Aoi gave him an over-enthusiastic thumbs up accompanied with her trademark grin.

"…Idiot…"

Kagerou squinted at the photo. "I don't recognize her, that's for sure. I wonder how she's related to Yanagi…?"

**x**

"Dare Number Two! It's very simple, really. Pick someone in this room to kiss," Recca grinned, handing Fuuko a plastic bag.

"What's the bag for?" Fuuko snapped irritably.

"Oh, you mean you want to kiss without the plastic bag between you and your partner? Go ahead, by all means!" Recca attempted to snatch the plastic bag away, but Fuuko ducked and ran to Hiro's pram.

"Hiro is not included," Gashakura quickly interjected. "He's still PG."

"Yeah," Recca agreed, "only 15-year-olds and above can be kissed."

"Bah, I forgot he's not in his pram anyway," Fuuko grumbled. Fuming, she turned around and headed for Tokiya.

"I HAVE IMMUNITY!" Tokiya shouted unexpectedly as Fuuko charged at him (or screamed, rather unbecomingly). He hid behind Kasshamaru, thinking, _Where's that gorilla when you need him?_

"I don't care!" came Fuuko's answer. Kasshamaru laughed and pulled Tsukishiro and Gashakura beside him. "You know, we're always available…" Fuuko made a face and retreated five steps back.

"A-ano…" Yanagi stammered out of the blue, "Maybe you would like to kiss Raiha-san?"

Fuuko bit her lip and felt her face flushing.

Raiha looked to the ceiling and tried to will his heart to beat slower.

**x**

Tokiya chuckled to himself as he walked home with Domon and Aoi, who just lived a few blocks away from him at Hana no Ishijima.

Aoi stared at Tokiya weirdly. "Ano, Mikagami-kun, are you all right? Do you need us to send you home?"

"He must have had too much to drink," muttered Domon.

"I'm fine, I just recalled how freaked Recca was when Fuuko kissed Yanagi."

"So _that _was what the whole fight was about!" exclaimed Aoi, as they turned into a junction. Domon scratched his head and thought aloud, "But why not Raiha? I thought she likes him?"

Aoi shook her head and patted Domon's shoulder. "My friend, not everyone's love life is as successful as yours. You had Kasumi coming along and giving her whole being to you, lucky guy!"

Domon threw back his head and laughed – it was true, Kasumi was an adorable, lovely girlfriend. When Fuuko had rejected him Kasumi was there to lend him a shoulder. The big bonus was that she had started to grow in all sorts of great places ever since she hit her sixteenth birthday.

"So, Mikagami-kun, when are you having a relationship?" Aoi turned away from the guffawing gorilla.

Tokiya shrugged and stretched his arms skyward, breathing in the scents of the night. "I don't know… Haven't found anyone I particularly like yet. Well, speak for yourself."

Aoi chuckled, "Ah. I don't have any interest in romantic relationships… It was already a blessing to be able to _feel_ friendship."

Tokiya looked at Aoi and murmured, "If you didn't say things like these, I would have forgotten…."

Laughing, Aoi waved goodbye to Tokiya and turned into Hana no Ishijima, with Domon trailing behind her.

_She's changed…_Tokiya strolled up the sidewalk thinking about how Aoi was just a year before.

_I've changed too._

**x**

Two weeks flew past and Tokiya helped Itsuko carry her things to the moving van, met her boyfriend, saw her apartment becoming eerie and empty, witnessed people coming in and out of it with the (filthy rich) landlord, and then one day the apartment was rented. He knew it was because he saw light coming from inside at night, and construction from the renovation was going on in the daytime.

The strange thing was, he never saw his neighbor.

**x**

It was a Thursday evening when Tokiya returned home from school, only to see a middle aged man standing outside Itsuko's apartment with a strikingly beautiful girl who was obviously his daughter because of her resemblance towards him even though she was rather blonde and had blue eyes. They were peering into the windows of the apartment, trying to catch some signs of life.

"The house is sold, sir," he informed them politely.

The man turned to look at him. "Oh… I see. Thank you."

Squeezing her father's shoulder, the girl assured him, "It's okay… We'll find a place."

After a smile and a slight bow to Tokiya, they left.

Tokiya fished around in his pocket for his keys when he heard something being dropped onto the floor a distance away. Looking up, he saw what he presumed to be his neighbor.

_It seems that everyone is sporting blue eyes these days_, he thought as his neighbor, a twenty-something-year-old woman, blinked disbelievingly at the girl and her father when they passed her, as if she had never seen humans before.

The man's daughter apologized, thinking that she had bumped into the lady, and went over to gather the lady's documents for her.

"Thank you…" she murmured, never taking her eyes off the younger girl.

_Kami-sama, is she lesbian or something? _thought Tokiya.

"You're welcome," the blonde responded cheerfully before leaving with her dad.

Tokiya had no idea why he could not find his keys and continued fishing around in his pocket. Unknowingly, his neighbor was still gazing at the closed doors of the lift and bumped into him slightly. Startled, their eyes met.

"Seiya-neesan…" she whispered, as her expression turned hard.

Tokiya couldn't help but bristle and reply coldly, "I am a guy."

The girl seemed to relax a little but could not let go of the frown. Her scrutiny was unbearable, so Tokiya turned away and inserted the key into the lock.

So much for Itsuko's hope of Tokiya having a nice neighbor.


	4. THREE: Questions, Reasons

Warning: This fic is not all fluff and no action.

Please enjoy.

**x**

_Chapter Three_

"Michi! I found a job!" Nobuhiko swept his daughter up in his arms and gave her a huge bear hug.

"Really!" Michi ecstatically hugged her father back. "Oh, tell me all about it!"

"I send in an application to all the property firms in the newspapers, but none of them accepted me. So," Nobuhiko paused as if to emphasize something, "I decided to take the risk and try something totally out of my league. After all," he grinned, "I did attain a degree in Hawaii."

"So what exactly are you doing?"

"I," Nobuhiko paused again for effect, "am going to be a teacher."

Michi was dumbstruck. A _teacher_?

She started to giggle. And the giggle became a laugh. The laugh evolved into a tummy-aching, floor-rolling thing that Nobuhiko was very puzzled with.

"Otou-san," Michi gasped, "you? A teacher? Oh, save me!"

"What's wrong with it?" Nobuhiko sniffed. "And it's _English _teacher, mind you."

Michi wiped away the tears from her eyes and pointed to all the photos on the walls. "Tou-san… You were the Surfer Prince in Hawaii, and when you came back to Japan so many women clamored to be your mistress, and when Kaa-san passed away so many women wanted to be my step-mother, and when you attended parent-teacher conferences in my high school all my female teachers _and _female classmates either searched school records for our home phone number or asked me to give them my home phone number. Basically, you don't look the teaching type. Teachers are supposed to look goofy and wear glasses, not tinted contacts. At least, most of my teachers look like that."

Nobuhiko put his hands on his hips in most chastisement of his daughter. "Now, that's a bad generalization, even though it's a flattering one. I am going to be an English teacher at West Akabane, and no one is going to stop me."

"West Akabane?" Michi voiced. "That's Yanagi's high school."

"Who's Yanagi?"

"A colleague at the kindergarten."

"Oh, the one you feel a special connection to?"

"Yeah. Oh well. Congratulations, Tou-san!" Michi leaped into her father's arms again. "I knew things would get better!"

**x**

"How's your dad, Michi?" Yanagi asked the next day at work, as the children were taking their nap.

Michi filled in the colors for Yanagi's comic and informed her friend excitedly, "He's got a job teaching English at your school! Starting tomorrow."

"Really? That's great!"

"Yes, but it's only temporary. I think it's until the end of the term."

"Oh…" Yanagi tried to think why. "I think it's because one of our teachers is on maternity leave."

Michi raised her eyebrows. "So my dad is going to teach you?"

Yanagi shook her head. "Nope, but I believe he will be teaching a senpai of mine."

**x**

"DID YOU SEE HIM!"

"He's sooooo handsome…"

"I saw Miss Sugita asking him for his phone number!"

"I wonder if he's married."

"He must be, he looks over forty."

"But still he's cute!"

"HE'S TEACHING US RIGHT!"

Tokiya sighed inwardly at the girls' conversation. They were most probably talking about their new English teacher, whom he didn't even know the name of and hadn't even seen.

But when he did see him…

"Aa!" Nobuhiko was startled when he saw Tokiya in his class.

Tokiya just bowed rather awkwardly.

"Young man, what is your name?" Nobuhiko asked in a manner that Tokiya could only classify under 'fatherly'.

"Mikagami Tokiya, sir," Tokiya replied.

"Ah, I see," Nobuhiko winked. He went up to the board and wrote his name.

"My name is Saitou Nobuhiko," he turned to face the class, and waited till the chatter died down. "I graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa," he paused, before smiling and greeting, "Aloha."

The class burst into an excessive amount of chatter, made of mostly girlish squeals.

"I majored in Real Estate," he had to raise his voice to be heard, and the noise died down again. "I lived in Hawaii for six years before coming back to Japan. I have a daughter-"

Of course, the noise came back again and cries of disappointment tried to be covered.

"-who is about the same age as all of you, and she looks very much like my late wife. You can say my daughter looks like a gaijin," Nobuhiko smiled. "Mikagami-kun has seen my daughter before. She's very beautiful, yes?" he directed to the young man.

Tokiya had to nod his head. What else could he do?

Immediately, a few pro-Tokiyas in the room vowed to murder Nobuhiko's daughter within the next few months.

**x**

_1583, Autumn_

"Aaaaa… I think you have lost, Nii-chan," Kaoru laughed and placed his chess piece in the checkmate position.

Kurei sighed and looked up at the sky. "Aa, it's going to rain."

"Did you keep the clothes!" Kaoru ran out of the house, looked at the clothesline and screamed, "YOU ALWAYS FORGET TO KEEP THE CLOTHES!"

Laughing, Kurei ran down the wooden steps and quickly gathered the clothes into the house. Kaoru sighed and sat down on the floor.

"You know, Nii-chan, you have to be more responsible!"

"Okay, okay…" Kurei set the clothes down on the mat and started to sort them into his and Kaoru's clothing.

"We don't have anyone to look after us anymore, you know?"

"Yes, I know…" the older man stared at a yellow vest and debated with himself whose exactly was it. Kaoru had grown rather tall.

"Wisen up!"

"Yes, Kaoru…" Kurei murmured. Deciding that the vest belonged to Kaoru, he put it neatly aside in the 'Kaoru' pile.

"You don't want that crazy Kouga ninja to hinder us do you?"

"No, I most certainly don't…" was Kurei's reply.

"But seriously," Kaoru's tone dropped low, "that woman looks a huge lot like Mikagami-niichan."

**x**

Ganko banged her way into Fuuko's room.

It was hard to believe that Fuuko was once a fighter, the epitome of alertness, the speed-of-light Hokage member.

It was hard to believe because despite the ruckus that Ganko was making (at this point of time Ganko was bawling her head off, waking half the neighbors in the building they were living in), Fuuko was still fast asleep.

_And _snoring.

"Fuuko… Wake up…" Ganko sniffled once she had cried enough. She prodded Fuuko's cheek with her index finger and when that didn't hurt, she poked Fuuko's eyelid. Hard.

"WHAT THE FU- fungus… Oh. It's you," Fuuko started, rubbing her stinging eye. "What's up…" Fuuko's brow furrowed as she saw the streaks of tears staining Ganko's features.

"I had a bad dream about Kaoru," Ganko started to sob. "I dream he was eaten by frogs."

"Hush," Fuuko tried hard not to sweatdrop and wrapped her arms round Ganko, moving her hands up and down Ganko's arms.

"We all miss them," Fuuko softly rocked Ganko. "I miss them too."

Ganko murmured the words 'Mama' as she soon fell into slumber. Fuuko smiled before gently laying her down and tucking her in. Fuuko fell back onto the pillow, waiting for sleep to overcome her.

…She was very alert. Sleep seemed like a distant option.

Sighing, she reached for her cell phone and flipped it open, wanting to play a boring cell phone game that could lull her to sleep.

ONE NEW MESSAGE

_Who would it be? _Fuuko wondered, pressing the 'OK' button. And there it was –

_RAIHA 23:50 _

_Sorry to disturb you. Are you awake? I have good news. So excited that I can't sleep. First person I wanted to share with was you._

Fuuko glanced at the digital clock beside her bed. It read 01:17.

Trying her luck, she replied the message.

_I was woken up by Ganko. She dreamt Kaoru was eaten by frogs. What's the matter?_

She hit the 'OK' button again and tried to visualize the message being broken up into several invisible pieces before flying out the room into the night air and then reaching Raiha's cellphone.

She didn't have to wait long.

_RAIHA 01:20_

_I got a job at a better-paying dojo. This means a lot for our future……_

Fuuko's heart thumped against her chest, like those daiko drums she saw during the last Spring Festival. With him.

The truth was, Fuuko and Raiha had a I-will-never-come-clean relationship. It was weird. They both knew what they wanted, they both knew what their heart's desire was, and yet… It just seemed that Raiha was so _afraid_ to voice anything out explicitly.

It puzzled Fuuko to no end most of the time. She had tried to reason out why. Was it because he had an ex that she knew? Was it because being timid was just his nature? Was it because _he wasn't sure whether Fuuko was what he wanted_?

Fuuko lay back onto the pillow, beside Ganko, who was breathing rhythmically, sound asleep. The older girl clicked the phone shut and placed it silently on the bedside drawer.

**x**

Raiha had the hunch that Fuuko would not reply his previous message. He knew that he should not have told her that when he could not speak to her about their relationship in real life.

Raiha _was _scared, he didn't try to deny that to himself. He remembered when he had tried to hurt Fuuko with Raijin, in his stupid belief that Fuujin and Raijin were destined to have a showdown.

Okay, maybe it _really _was destiny that brought Fuuko and Raiha together, like the madougu they used to wield. But it wasn't a romantic destiny nor a positive one.

Raiha flipped around to the other side, his head resting on a cooler side of the pillow.

There was more guilt than anything involved, he was aware of that. He could not tell Fuuko how much he loved her because he knew how much hurt he had caused her before, how much hurt he could bear to inflict on her even though he knew that he loved her right from the very beginning. He was afraid of himself. What would he grow to become if he ever got together with Fuuko? Would he cause her hurt without any tinge of guilt if he deemed anything else more important than she was?

A year ago, it was the destiny of Raijin and Fuujin that was more important, which not only caused Fuuko much physical hurt, but Raiha too. His hand was in such a bad shape after he used Raijin that the doctor deemed him handicapped. Thankfully, Yanagi approached him and convinced him to let her heal him.

But now, even if there wasn't anything to stop him from loving Fuuko wholeheartedly, he was still skeptical about the future.

The external LCD screen lit up as Raiha pressed a button on the side. It showed the time - 1:30 AM. It also showed that there were no new messages.

Raiha felt that he could not sleep that night, but at that moment, it wasn't because he was very, very happy.

**x**

Michi and her father were settled in an apartment rather near the one they had been hoping for, and her father had taken very much to one of his students – the very same person that informed them nicely about the unit that had been taken.

It was rather comical, the way her father spoke about this Mikagami guy, as if he was his bosom buddy and not a student who was young enough to be his son.

"Michi," Nobuhiko brought up one evening after the news, "would you like to know Mikagami-kun? He is a very _very_ nice boy."

Michi heard alarms going off in her head and declined politely. "I am perfectly fine without you setting me up, Tou-san."

"Aww Michi, give it a try. I promised him that I would bring you to school one day -"

"Sorry Tou-san, no can do. I am not a show-and-tell specimen."

Nobuhiko sighed. That tone meant that she _really_ wasn't interested at all.

"Your loss, Michi!" Nobuhiko could not help hollering towards the kitchen, where Michi was washing the dishes. When there came no reply, he quipped, "I GIVE HIM FREE TUITION!"

Still no reply.

At least he tried.

**x**

_It's been a long time, Michi-neesan._

"Yanagi, do you feel as if we're being watched?" Michi asked Yanagi one afternoon as they were getting ready to bring the children out to the park.

"No, not at all," Yanagi replied cheerfully, helping Ryou to put on his cap.

"Hmm."

"Well, are we ready to go?"

"YES!" cheered the kids, and momentarily, Michi forgot about the uneasiness of being watched.

**x**

_A long time ago_

_There were three sisters_

_You_

_Her_

_Me_

_We were as close as the eyelashes under a maiden's brow_

_Until blood flowed down on one of our hands_

_Blood that had no purpose to be shed_

_And the bond was broken_

_Assumed never to be mended_

_But now_

_It seems that_

_We have to face the past_

_In this future that has given us so many surprises_

_It seems that _

_We have to meet once more._

**xxxx**

**madlightning **thanks for being reviewer number one. Now, if only you could spread the good news about this fic to others…. ((evil grin while brandishing a knife)) okay, kidding. Hope you liked this chapter as well. More of the plot unraveled in the next chapter which is UNFORTUNATELY IMCOMPLETE! See you around!


	5. FOUR: The Incredulity of Answers

Many thanks to Amethyst for posting such comprehensive reviews on this fic. Now if you other people reading this fic had the courtesy to submit a well-rounded critique of this piece of work…

_Chapter Four_

It wasn't long before the closure of the term started to draw near and Nobuhiko had to find another job. Given the amazing rapport he had built up with the students and the staff (the principal was a woman), he secured a job as head librarian in the school library even before he left the teaching post.

Talk about pulling strings.

On the side, Tokiya was getting more pressurized day after day as the entrance exams to university drew nearer. He really needed to get a scholarship – the money that his parents left him was safely accumulating interest in the bank, but he knew it was not enough. He could not survive on his parents' money forever.

So there he was in the library one day, puzzling over a killer Physics paper. He was definitely brilliant by nature, but the paper was really drawing the life out of him.

"Mikagami!" he felt a clap on the back.

It hurt. A lot.

Nobuhiko chuckled and rubbed the spot, "Sorry, sorry. I must have broken your concentration."

_My shoulder blade, more like._

"It's okay," Tokiya murmured more pitifully than he intended to. "I wasn't concentrating much anyway."

Nobuhiko picked up the stapled document. "This looks like something my daughter would know."

Tokiya could not help but be surprised. "I thought your daughter is in second year?"

"She is. But she's this 'hidden prodigy', like how my wife used to say. She could count before she could say 'Papa'," Nobuhiko shook his head wistfully. "Time flies."

Fingering his ponytail ever so slightly, Tokiya told himself that he had to solve the question. If a girl could solve it, why couldn't he?

**x**

Saturday was welcomed into the week and Michi stretched herself awake. She padded across the floor to towards the bathroom.

Then she stopped short outside the bathroom, a smile spreading slowly across her face.

_I'm going to Pikachu's place today, aren't I?_

**x**

The shadow skimmed across the sidewalk, and Michi was totally unaware of it. It loomed closer and closer, but when Michi stopped to tie her shoelace, it vanished - right in the bright morning daylight, as inconspicuous as the caterpillars creeping up the creepers of the gate that Michi was about to push open.

**x**

"Studying with you guys was a real mistake," groaned Tokiya softly, as Fuuko threw her eraser at Domon for touching her leg. It hit him squarely between the eyes.

"I thought it was Kasumi's, I swear to Kami-sama!" Domon protested fiercely.

"Kasumi isn't even here!" screamed Fuuko, retrieving another item from her pencil case (scissors) and flinging it accurately at Domon (left cheekbone, dead centre).

"Maa, you know how this guy has a terribly active and pornographic imagination. Can't blame him, you know," Aoi hit Domon hard on the head good-naturedly.

"Thanks for the defen- I'M NOT LIKE THAT, BAKA!" Domon growled angrily in denial, blushing hard.

"Ano, can anyone help me with this question…" Yanagi tried to voice out over the noise.

"I'll help you, Yanagi-chan!" Recca enthusiastically volunteered.

"As if you can help her," Domon snorted, forgetting his predicament. Fuuko immediately grabbed the chance to strangle him from behind.

Tokiya could not contain his frustration anymore. After gathering his books rather forcefully he got up, exiting the room. Immediately the others quieted down.

"Is he angry?"

"I hope not…"

"Oops."

"Is there food?"

"…Shut up, Domon."

**x**

Tokiya strolled along the second floor, trying to take his mind into a more calming place. He stopped to look at a display cupboard he had never noticed before, situated just outside Yanagi's room.

_Aa._

His eyes were fixated on the blonde that was posing in a photo with Yanagi.

_That girl… Saitou-sensei's daughter? Yanagi knows her? _

He was about to turn back and ask Yanagi about it when there was the sound of footsteps and voices drifting up the stairs.

"Let me show you to her," the housekeeper said in her ever-polite tone.

"Thank you very much," said the other courteous voice that could match the housekeeper's anytime.

Tokiya raised both eyebrows at Michi as she ascended onto the second floor.

"Aa. Mikagami-kun," Michi acknowledged and smiled, remembering the face from the night they had met on the corridor.

Tokiya nodded and said a barely audible 'good morning'.

The housekeeper knocked on the door of the drawing room, where the whole group was.

"You know… If I were you, I won't go in there with the intention of studying," the housekeeper spoke up.

Michi cocked her head.

"They're a horribly noisy bunch," the housekeeper prattled on. Tokiya wondered why she had such a sudden outburst of loquacity. Normally she was as silent as the deepest dungeons of hell.

"If you wanted some peace and quiet, you'd probably want to be elsewhere," finished the housekeeper. "Look, this lad here has left the room as well."

Michi gave the other two people a mysterious upturn of her lips and entered the room. Tokiya just shook his head, wondered what possessed the housekeeper to speak to Michi, wondered what possessed him to be thinking about such things so excessively and then walked down the stairs.

"Mikagami-kun."

Tokiya turned just in time to see Michi gliding down the railing. Landing nicely in front of him, she handed him his notes and pencil. "Let's go to a quieter place."

**x**

Jounouchi Shiki sighed from behind a shadow.

_She's doing it again. But she doesn't know it. _

**x**

"…And that's why, the coefficient of A is greater than one," Michi added the finishing strokes to the calculus question with a flourish. Tokiya frowned and tried to digest the information. This girl was, admittedly, good. She could solve questions he took an hour to do in less than twenty minutes.

Michi gazed (rather dreamily) at the older boy. He was, as admittedly as she was good at math, good-looking. And his hair was to die for.

_What on earth am I doing…_

Catching herself staring at him, she turned away just in time to catch a mistake in his equation.

"Un, no, Mikagami-san, you have to prove that B is a constant," Michi dug into her pencil case for an eraser and handed it to Tokiya.

Michi glanced around the garden. They were sitting at a stone table in a portion of the garden that was enclosed within walls of creepers. It was a shady, romantic area.

When Tokiya finished correcting the equation, Michi abruptly asked him, "Ano, Mikagami-san… Why is your hair so long?"

This took him by surprise. Michi did _not _seem like the type who asked questions like that.

"…It used to be because of a vow I made. But now I'm just lazy to cut it."

Michi's eyes took on a dreamy, faraway look. "Don't cut it," the words fell from her lips, as their lines of vision met.

Tokiya had to steady his mind to take in the information that Michi was actually saying such things to him. She was a well-mannered, intelligent person, not someone who slid down stair railings and asked people why their hair was so long.

Michi stood up and stroked his ponytail gently. He froze.

"It's so soft," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. "So familiar, somehow…"

Her hands strayed to the band that was keeping the hair in a ponytail.

Tokiya was alarmed. "Don't-"

But his hair billowed past his shoulders before he could even finish his sentence. Michi sat down beside him and gazed at him, drinking every drop of his existence.

"Who are you…" she murmured, drawing her index finger over his cold, smooth cheek. "Why are you here…?"

Tokiya could not bring himself to speak. He tried to, but nothing came out.

Michi frowned as her finger traced his Adam's apple. "This seems wrong…" she said, barely audible.

Tokiya swallowed at the contact. Normal girls he could probably manage, but this he couldn't.

"You are not the one… Not the one…" she bit her lip, folding her hands on her lap, still beholding the handsome young man.

Then, Michi seemed to break out of her trance.

"Why is your hair untied?" Michi wondered aloud, before (once more surprising him) gathering his hair into a neat ponytail and deftly securing it with the band.

Strangely, Tokiya couldn't remember.

**x**

Michi stretched – she had been sitting down with Tokiya and advanced calculus questions for two hours, and she was rather numb.

"You want a drink or something?" Michi yawned, covering her mouth with a hand.

"I'll go get it myself," Tokiya stood up.

"I'll come along," Michi smiled, getting up. "I need some exercise."

Tokiya nodded and walked towards the mansion when a sudden chill ran up his spine.

**x**

Shiki held her breath. She did not mean to let go of the dimension.

**x**

"Come out."

Tokiya might have found deeper meaning in life, meaning beyond avenging his sister, but it didn't mean that he lost the ability to be a fighter.

"Sorry?" Michi thought he was speaking to her. Tokiya stood in front of Michi, meaning to shield her if Shiki was the enemy.

"What are you doing, Mikagami-kun?"

Tokiya said nothing, but his features hardened. Michi took the cue and stood closer to him.

**x**

Shiki materialized into their view. Michi gasped, Tokiya just nonchalantly stared straight ahead.

"I believe we've met," Tokiya _almost_ snarled at his neighbour, but kept to a neutral, cool tone for Michi's sake.

"I'm not here to hurt you, that's all you have to know," Shiki replied, drawing a hand through her long black hair.

"Why are you here?" Tokiya questioned yet again.

"I have my reasons," was the persistently vague answer.

Tokiya knew that he had no power whatsoever if Shiki wielded something unperceivable and great. But he just had to give it a shot.

"Go away," he advanced a step towards her, expecting her to retreat equally. Instead, she sidestepped and reached out to Michi.

"Come here, please," Shiki whispered. Or rather, she _begged_.

Tokiya once again formed a barrier between the two women. "What are you trying to do?" he asked, not being able to comprehend the motives of the raven-haired mystery.

"This is none of your business!" burst the equally frustrated Shiki, raising her hand and cutting it through the air at an angle towards Tokiya, reminiscent of the way Fuuko used to perform with Fuujin.

…It was as if the most intense heat of summer had knocked him down stupid.

Tokiya felt the iron-melting temperature coursing through his upper torso, and it pained him so much that he couldn't even cry out. He felt as if his waist had been cut into half, and finally he landed onto the floor, sprawled sideways. It was worse than the pain he had endured in all the previous fights the Hokage had gone through for Yanagi.

"Mikagami-kun!" resounded Michi's voice in his ears.

Shiki marched up to Michi, her eyes ablaze. "He'll be fine," said the irate woman, grabbing Michi's wrist forcefully. "Follow me."

"No!" Michi protested violently, shaking Shiki's hand off and running to Tokiya's side.

This Tokiya watched through the slits of his barely-open eyes.

**x**

"Yanagi ojou-sama!" a man's voice was heard from the other side of the door, which was rattling on its hinges because of the pounding. "Yanagi ojou-sama!" he reiterated.

Yanagi hurriedly rushed to the door and there stood her gardener, panting hard.

"What happened?" Yanagi bent down and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Something- going on- garden-,"forced the elderly man, panting hard.

Immediately the four other teenagers ran out of the room, racing down the stairs towards the door, Yanagi following in their wake.

**x**

"I'm sorry, okay! I didn't mean to hurt him!" Shiki cried out, slapping a hand to her forehead and massaging her right temple with her thumb.

"But you did," Michi's voice was cold, and she gave Shiki a glare that Tokiya probably could have rivaled in the past.

"I need to talk things through with you," Shiki squatted down beside Michi, leveling her face with the younger girl's.

"What's there that could possibly be talked about! I don't even know you!" Michi shrieked, placing a hand on Tokiya's body, which was abnormally warm.

"But I know you," Shiki's voice dropped low and urgent. "You were my closest confidante, my best friend-"

"I don't want to hear any of your insane rubbish," Michi decided grimly, turning back to Tokiya, hauling his head into her lap as gently as she could.

"Would you just _listen_!" Shiki insisted, moving closer to Michi. "You are not a normal person."

"Go away," Michi coolly shot Shiki another glare, her hand on Tokiya's forehead, which was burning. "I don't want to hear your voice. It nauseates me."

"Mi-chan!" exclaimed Fuuko, the first to arrive at the scene, Domon and Aoi following just behind. Shiki's expression hardened and she threw another heat wave towards Fuuko - but not directly at her – to warn the skinny violet-head that she needed to be alone with Michi.

There was a cry from behind Domon and they all heard a shout from Recca…

"YANAGI!"

**x**

Shiki froze as she saw the girl who had fallen.

Sakura-hime.

_Sakura-hime._

She had hurt Sakura-hime.

"No…" Shiki uttered soundlessly, staggering towards Yanagi. "Sakura-hime…" she called, causing a number of eyebrows to shoot up and a few eyes to widen.

Recca couldn't move a muscle. He was shocked that anyone would recognize Yanagi, in this time, as Sakura. He was even more stricken by the fact that Yanagi had passed out in a fever just like that. Her body was practically burning.

"Give her to me," Shiki ordered in a very subdued manner. No one protested. Recca gave in with only the least bit of hesitance and let Shiki hold Yanagi. Shiki, with the additional weight, sat on the grass.

Everyone watched in an air of sickening suspense.

Closing her eyes, Shiki placed her hands on Yanagi's, a soft glow emanating from both their bodies. Moments later, Yanagi came to and Shiki peered intently at her.

"Sakura-hime… Please forgive me," Shiki kneeled and bowed low.

Recca couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" he roared, upset.

**x**

**Amethyst **thank you for reading my fic and leaving such comprehensive comments. I would take note of the way I address Michi, never thought that 'gaijin' would have negative connotations till you pointed it out.

You asked about Raiha's text to Fuuko – you're quite right, but Raiha meant to test the waters instead of your theory of getting Fuuko to confess her feelings first. He simply wanted to see how she would respond to the text, even though he knew chances of her not responding at all were higher. He knew that if she bothered to respond, it would mean that she understood his feelings. He would feel better if Fuuko dashed his hopes by not replying the message as compared to dashing his own hopes by himself by not hinting anything. But the status quo was that none of them could speak of their feelings because while he couldn't put it across, she was unsure of how he felt. I'm telling you too much, aren't I? Haha…

About the review on chapter three – yes, Raiha felt that it would be too personal to explain to Neon about his feelings toward Fuuko. And the fact that more people would be coming in for the birthday party. And yes, he did not mean it in a nasty way.

Fuuko did kiss Yanagi on the mouth. But with the plastic bag. Ehehehe.

Tokiya was Fuuko's prey during the truth-or-dare for the simple fact that he got her into Recca's atrocious dares. It was all his fault, and Fuuko wanted revenge by kissing him. Just that simple reason. Hehehe.

Oh yes and the fact about Tokiya's financial status. I do not comprehend why he is always rich. A kid of 18 with grandfather dead, parents dead and sister dead, the only known talent of them all being the ability to fight with the Ensui… I cannot see why he would have so much money. Plus the fact that the standards of living in Japan is so high, topped up by the evidence that Tokiya is not having a part-time job. He is not poor, as this chapter explained about the money in the bank, but he just gets by. That's why he only got mittens. He didn't wrap it because… well, he didn't wrap it? I don't know, actually! ((rubs head sheepishly)) I just didn't want him to wrap it. It was such a girly thing to do!

Itsuko did show up in the manga, you know. Of course, her name wasn't given, but right at the end there was this drunk woman wanting water from Tokiya… I decided to pick Tokiya's loose end of that page in the manga to link it to my fic. She will probably show up but her role will stay minor.

You will probably have an idea who Seiya is in the next chapter. I'm glad you're liking this story and care enough to give me reviews. Thank you so so much.


	6. FIVE Pt 1: The 1560s

Please tell me if you think this is boring. If you want to give me flames, I'll probably just ignore them. I write for myself, not for anyone else. Of course, if you like this story, feel free to tell me too.

**Amethyst **Heh, you made some very important observations! However, you have to read the story to find out. This is only Part 1 of Chapter Five – hang in there for Part 2. As for your question about why Michi's dad has to switch jobs – I did mention that he became a teacher because one of the teachers at the school had to go on maternity leave. Basically he's just a substitute. I figured that substitutes can't be teachers for the long-term, so he's going to help out at the library :) If you noticed, I did mention his role (non-permanent staff, I mean) in the fic.

_Chichi-ue_: Honorable Father

**x**

_Chapter Five – PART I_

_1583, Autumn_

Kurei swatted a mosquito away from his ear as he pulled out the weeds that were practically draining the life out of his rice plants.

"Ne, ne, Onii-chan!" he heard Kaoru call him. "Look what I found!"

The boy bounded over with a large blue-green beetle.

Kurei raised his eyebrows, impressed. "You caught it yourself?"

It was at that moment the sky decided to plunge them into total darkness.

**x**

"Mikagami-kun…?" Tokiya heard Michi call his name.

"He's coming round…" another voice said. He slowly identified it as Fuuko's.

"He should be fine now," Shiki spoke, her face pallid. "I've taken back the heat."

Michi scowled at her. "Care to let us know what's going on now?"

Shiki could only stare at Michi soulfully.

**x**

"I wasn't intending to tell so many people, because the fewer people know about it, the better it is," Shiki closed her eyes and titled her head skyward.

"My name is Shiki. Jounouchi is just a name I used in this century. I am the last surviving member of the Urin Clan, which was exterminated in the year 1560. I traveled through time to get here… To look for a sister that I had lost."

There was a dumbfounded silence. Everyone was taken aback by the revelation.

Shiki turned to Michi.

"You."

**x**

_It was an intensely hot summer day in 1560, much hotter than usual. A fisherman wiped his brow, sighing up at the sun._

_It was then the footsteps could be heard, pounding hard on the dirt track, as if the owners of those feet were being chased by a mad bull that had gotten out from one of the farms. _

_The ground vibrated with the anticipation of the stampede, and the fisherman looked bewilderedly over his shoulder as he saw three girls running past at top speed. Just moments later a band of tromping, rowdy villagers followed._

_In a matter of seconds, they were gone, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake._

_The fisherman looked up at the sun and shook his head. "What a boring day," he uttered, swiping at a bead of sweat trickling down his brow._

_The dust settled and everything seemed to return to normal._

_**X**_

"_Help us!" cried a peculiar blue-eyed girl with streaks of gold in her hair to Chief Sawaki as she saw them coming towards her. His troop of huntsmen and guards were close behind and at his command, they slowed down to a stop._

"_What seems to be the matter?" voiced Chief Sawaki to the girls, who seemed to be not a day past sixteen._

"_They… They think we're demons!" sobbed the youngest, who also had blue eyes._

_The girl with the fairest skin was quiet, as if she was in a state of shock. She, too, had blue eyes._

_The villagers were closing in, and Chief Sawaki asked, "Why do they think you're demons?"_

"_Because we have abilities than most people do not possess," the silent one suddenly spoke._

"_We can always kill them, but we think it's wrong," the girl with streaks of golden hair grimly informed Chief Sawaki._

_The first villagers who arrived near enough to attack them threw stones and pitchforks at the girls, but the one who spoke last raised her hand and the stones and pitchforks simply bounced off some sort of invisible barrier she had created._

_Suddenly, Chief Sawaki understood. "Bring them onto your horses and lead them home!" he commanded. Obeying, his men swept the young girls up and sped off, leaving the screaming villagers far behind._

_**X**_

"_What is your name?" Chief Sawaki asked the youngest, in the privacy of his working chambers. _

"_It is Shiki, sire."_

"_What about you?" Chief Sawaki directed to the fair, taciturn one._

"_Seiya, sire."_

"_And you?"_

"_My name is Michi, sire."_

"_How old are all of you?" Chief Sawaki leant forwards and tried to guess._

"_I am 14," replied Michi, "Shiki is 11 and Seiya-oneesama is 16."_

"_And you say the villagers killed all your parents and relatives?"_

"_Yes, sire."_

"_Why did they not retaliate?"_

"_They did not want to hurt the innocent, the ignorant."_

"_How did you all escape?"_

_There was silence._

_Chief Sawaki waited._

_Seiya unexpectedly spoke up, "I overcame the village with darkness and pulled us out of danger."_

_At this, Shiki and Michi seemed to be embarrassed, as if using powers on the village was a definite taboo._

"_Chichi-ue!" a young voice called from the outside the door, interrupting Chief Sawaki's thoughts. "I saved a puppy today!" hollered the person on the other side of the panel._

"_Not now, Sakura," Chief Sawaki raised his volume to be heard. "I have some important things to do."_

"_I'll wait here," the child named Sakura cheerfully complied._

**x**

"_I have heard of the Urin clan," Chief Sawaki nodded slowly. "They possess inborn powers that can be used for the good or bad of mankind, is it not?"_

_Shiki nodded. "But some of us are different from the rest."_

_Chief Sawaki gave Shiki a genial smile. How she reminded him of his own Sakura!_

"_How different?" he probed._

_Shiki scrunched up her face in concentration. "Well, the people who have married non-Urin clan members have whose powers are fully defensive. For the pure Urin clan members, they normally have a variation of powers, either offensive, defensive or both."_

_Michi smiled at the youngest girl. "She is a pure Urin, sire," she placed a hand on Shiki's head and turned to Chief Sawaki. "As Urin, we have to learn about our clan at a young age."_

_Chief Sawaki rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And how are you related to Shiki?"_

"_Shiki is my maternal uncle's child, sire," Michi replied respectfully. "She is my cousin but addresses Seiya-oneesama and I as 'sister'."_

"_And you, Seiya?" Chief Sawaki directed towards the quiet individual._

"…_I am Michi's half-sister. We have different mothers."_

_Chief Sawaki looked at the three girls. They were tired, dusty and most of all, homeless._

"_What would all of you think about living here?" he finally asked._

**x**

_Chief Sawaki readily accepted the girls into the family, letting them clean, cook and play with his daughter. He loved Shiki the most, because she was the most vibrant out of the three. Sakura, his eight-year-old daughter, adored Michi and her haiku-composing reveries, and would stay by her side hours on end, looking at the older girl chewing the tip of her writing brush._

_But no one in the Sawaki household seemed to love Seiya, nor take notice of her._

**x**

_Years passed. The Urin sisters became so stunningly beautiful with their blue eyes and golden-tinged hair that Michi had to suggest wearing a veil so that they would not attract so much attention._

_Sakura, on the other hand, became a lovely young lady with an equally lovely heart. She had many suitors and all of them were naturally turned down. This worried her father and mother to no end._

_Desperate times called for desperate measures._

**x**

"_Michi," Chief Sawaki slid the door shut and motioned for Michi to dispense with ceremony. She folded her legs under her and settled down on the floor before removing her veil. Madame Sawaki gave her a slight nod in acknowledgement to her presence._

"_I want to enquire about Sakura's destiny," Chief Sawaki gravely seated himself on the floor._

_Michi was contemplative. Having the gift of prophecy was a huge burden to bear, even if she had the prerogative to use it at will. The past six years had been hassle-free, since no one asked her to tell the future, even if everyone knew about her ability to. Why was she implored to use this power only now?_

"_So many people have come to ask for Sakura's hand," Madame Sawaki lamented, and Chief Sawaki agreed just as a father would. _

_Michi chuckled and nodded, finally understanding fully. She then concentrated hard and channeled a strain of energy to complete her task._

**x**

_1583, Autumn_

"What do you want…?" Kurei hissed.

"I just want you to join us," said the middle-aged woman through the darkness.

"And dabble in your ways?" spat Kurei.

"Please, Kurei, do not speak of us with such disdain", drawled the woman as she released a little bit of light into the room, the gold and grey of her hair apparent in the dark.

"The Kouga clan deserves even worse words than these," Kaoru scowled.

"Why, you little brat. This is no place for children to speak, or even exist, for that matter…" chortled the ninja.

Kurei drew himself to his full height.

"Get lost, Seiya," he whispered dangerously.

"Try me," she cackled, enveloping the room in canvas of black.

**x**

_1566, Spring_

_What she saw petrified her._

I can't tell them this,_ she thought, her heart filling up with sorrow as she saw what would happen to Sakura. _

_Michi never lied, but she did withhold truths. She knew that she could not make anyone avoid their destiny, but she could spare others the pain of knowing about it._

"_How is it?" Chief Sawaki enquired eagerly. _

_Michi mustered a brave smile. "She will be with Koheita-kun. Let her be with Koheita-kun, no matter what."_

_Both Chief Sawaki and Madame Sawaki exchanged quizzical looks. Michi reassured them, "Please, trust me."_

**x**

_It was one of those nights that Shiki lay in bed wondering what would be in store for them next. She knew that there was peace in the country, but somehow something stirred in her heart. She felt that something bad was going to happen._

_She needed to find out._

**x**

"_Michi-oneesama…" Sakura sat up in Michi's futon that night. "How old are you?"_

_Michi was rather taken aback at this question and she laid the clean laundry onto the tatami. "I have never told you?"_

_The younger girl shook her head rather vehemently._

"_I am twenty this year," smiled Michi, folding the first piece of clothing she took up from the pile._

"_Have you ever fallen in love?"_

_Michi blushed and replied, "No, never."_

_Sakura sighed and fell back on the pillow. Michi laughed and teased, "Has my little sakura petal drifted into someone's palm?"_

_Sakura snuggled deeper into the futon and hid her face from Michi. _

_The two enjoyed the comfortable silence as Michi continued folding the clothes, the slightest hint of an amused smile gracing her lips._

**x**

Shiki stopped suddenly.

"What happened next?" Michi hoarsely probed. Everyone else was silent, waiting for the next part of the story.

Shiki raised her head. A tear made its way down her cheek and she brushed it away.

**x**

_1566, Spring_

_Wandering into Sakura's room and finding it empty, Shiki stretched herself and lay upon the wooden floor without lighting the lamp. In the dark she heard the crickets chirp, the cicadas sing and the toads ruffling the tall grass outside._

_She was almost sliding into slumber when, through her half-closed eyes, she saw a figure clad in black peering into the chamber._


End file.
